Augustus e



" A. E. ELLINWOOD.

APPLIANCE FOR INSULATING ELECTRIC WIRES.

No. 416,289. Patented Dec. 3, 1889.

WiCneJJe-a: Inv entor:

fb mmolil'zzmwmz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS E. ELLINWVOOD, OF AKRON, OHIO.

APPLIANCE FOR INSULATING ELECTRIC WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,289, dated December3, 1889.

Application filed December 13, 1888. Serial No. 293,419. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS E. ELLIN- WOOD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio,have invented a certain new and useful Appliance for InsulatingIntersecting Electric Wires, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the insulation of overhead wires, especiallysuch as are employed in connection with electric tractionmotors at theirpoints of crossing and intersection; and the objects of my invention areto produce means whereby the wires shall be perfectly insulated for anydetermined distance from the trolley, and, if desired, from each other,and by means of which a smooth continuous surface shall be provided forthe trolley to travel upon at the points of insulating, crossing, orintersection of the Wires.

A further object of my invention is to prevent wear and injury of thewires, due to sparking, as the trolley makes and breaks circuit intraveling over the points of crossing or intersection of the wires.

To the above purposes my invention consists in the peculiar and novelfeatures of construction and arrangement hereinafter described, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, I will proceed todescribe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, forming apartof this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a system ofoverhead motor-wires, embracing a crossing and a connecting curve withmy improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is aperspective view, on anenlarged scale, of a crossing with my improved insulator appliedthereto. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the upper portion of a trolleyemployed in connection with the insulator, and Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of the trolley and the adjacent crossing of the overheadwires.

In the said drawings, N N and P P designate, respectively, the negativeand positive overhead wires of an electric traction-motor system,,saidwires being disposed in the form of a crossing and a connecting curve inorder to better illustrate my invention.

At the points I I I 1 where the wires N P cross and intersect,myimproved insulators are applied. These insulators are each composed oftwo sticks or strips A B, of wood or other suitable non-conductingmaterial, which are framed to fit together so as to extend either atright angles or obliquely from each other, according as the insulator isapplied to a curve, as at I I, or to a crossing, as at I I I11 framingthe insulator one of the sticks is notched at its upper side, and theother stick is correspondingly notched upon its lower side, so that whenthe sticks or strips are placed together their upper and lower facesshall be flush with each other, as is best shown in Fig. 2. Theextremities of each stick or strip A B are each provided with a deepshort vertical groove or channel a, which extends longitudinally of thestrip, and also with an eye or hole I), which extends transversely ofthe strip and groove near the outer extremities of the same.

In applying the insulator, one stick, as B, is placed beneath the lowerwire, as N, said wire being bent down into the grooves a, and heldtherein by pins b, which are inserted into the holes I) and overlay thewire. The other stick A is then matched from below into the first stick.The upper wire, as P, is now bent into the grooves a of stick A, and isretained therein by pins 1), similarly as described with reference tostick B, a block or bridge 0, of insulating material-such as wood-beingsecured at the intersection of the two strips to separate the wires N P.By virtue of this arrangement it will be seen that the wires N P arecompletely insulated from each other and from contact with the trolleyT, and at the same time a smooth under surface is provided for thetrolley to travel upon.

In order to prevent sparking due to the making and breaking of thecircuit as the trolley moves past the crossings or intersections of theWires, and to avoid the consequent wear upon the latter, I place on theunder side of each stick or strip A B two pieces of conducting material0 0, each of which is connected at one end to the upwardly-extendingportion of the wire N or P, and which extends any desired distancetoward the center of the insulator, as is shown in Fig. 4. Theseconductors 0 may be either 'of wire, similar to the wiresN P, and embedded in the sticks with their lower faces flush with the under face ofthe sticks, or they maybe in the form of thin metallic plates, suitablysecured to the under surface of the sticks. The said conductors c cserve to limit the length of the break in the circuit, and also to takethe wear .due to sparking.

The trolley T may be of the usual or any preferred form suitable to thepurposes of electric traction motors, and for the purpose ofillustration it consists of a vertical supporting-tube with horizontalarms on opposite sides, having bearings on their outer ends. Twocylindrical metallic rollers t t are journaled in and between the armsof the trolley, and said rollers are insulated from each other but haveseparate insulated electrical connections (not shown) which pass throughthe hollow arms and vertical tube of the trolley to the car. The rollersi hear, respectively, against the wires N P, and connect said wires withthe poles of the motor on the car.

From the above description it will be obvious that at any of the pointsI I I I it is necessary to insulate the intersecting wires in order bothto prevent a direct short circuit from one Wire to another and also asimilar connection through one roller of the trolley. It will also beseen that the appliance as a whole is simple, compact; and durable, andthat its application to wires now in use may be readily effected withoutnecessitating the employment of skilled workmen.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An improved insulator for intersecting electric wires, consisting ofa non-conducting frame adapted to receive and cross the wires unbroken,and having the bearing-surface for.

the trolleys in same plane with the wires, substantially as described.

2. An improved insulator for intersecting Wires, consisting of anon-conducting frame adapted to receive and cross the wires unbroken,said frame provided with auxiliary conductors situated in the undersurface of the frame and limiting the break between the wires and takingup the wear incident to sparking, substantially as described.

I In a line-wire-crossin g insulator, the combination, with the strips AB, crossing each other and having the slots (1, in their ends, of thepins b, passing through said slots, and the interposed block or bridge0, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I hereunto set my hand.

AUGUSTUS E. ELLIN\VOOD.

In presence ot'- JNo. L. Coupon, 0. P. HUMPHREY.

